Earlier this week, at least 25 stores on Regent Street, Georgetown were closed following the performance of the final rites of Indian spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
The owners of these stores, followers of the late Baba, closed their establishments for 24 hours as a sign of mourning on Wednesday. Business resumed as per normal yesterday, but devotees of the late guru are still struggling to deal with the pain caused by the loss of their leader.
Baba was admitted to a hospital in his hometown Puttaparti, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India about a month ago and died of multiple organ failure on Sunday. He was 85.
He was buried at 9 am on Wednesday (India time) as hundreds of thousands of devotees flocked to pay their last respects at his temple in south India to a man revered as a living God. Tibetan monks, Muslim clerics, top politicians and military officers sat with hundreds of family members to commemorate the charismatic guru who drew millions of followers around the world with his diverse teachings that blended Hindu and Muslim beliefs.
Revered as the reincarnation of Hindu and Muslim saint Sai Baba of Shirdi, Sai Baba was a cultural icon in a rapidly modernising Indian economy, where religion and spirituality still remain an integral part of daily life.
India is 9 hours and 30 minutes ahead of local time and, from 10 pm to just past midnight on Tuesday, prayers were held at the various Sai Baba centres here to coincide with the performing of his final rites. At least 150 devotees attended prayers at the main centre at Laluni Street, Queenstown (this does not include the attendance at other centres countrywide).
Chairman of the Central Council of the Shree Sathya Sai Baba Organisation of Guyana Bhagwan Narwani told Stabroek News that the sense of loss is still there for many devotees and will remain there for some time. Baba’s successor, Narwani explained, is still “some way off from manifestation.”
When questioned about where devotees will deal with this sense of loss and from where they will get spiritual guidance Narwani said: “They [devotees] are going to have to find that strength from within.” He further added that while there is no single person to head the organisation there are many older devotees who would have spend a lot of time with Baba and would have been brought up and taught in his unique spiritual atmosphere.
There is no possibility nor should there be any fear of the Baba following fading or losing any of its strength because they have lost a great leader, Narwani said. Devotees, he told this newspaper, will continue to practice the great lessons Baba has left with them. Meanwhile, local businessman and Baba follower Sunil Teotia noted that the multimillion dollar Sai Baba Organisation started since the late 1940s or early 1950s. In his lifetime, Teotia said, Baba gave his estimated 6 million devotees “a wealth of information” and there are many books from which they can now gain spiritual guidance.
“He [Baba] has given us schools, universities where students have been brought up with the spiritual atmosphere,” Teotia said. When asked about how he will pass on his beliefs to his children Teotia said: “The same way my mother made me know of who Lord Krishna is, who Lord Rama is, the same way I will make sure that my children know what Baba did and who he is… I will teach them what Baba helped me to learn that there should always be harmony of heart, word and deeds.”
